


Like walking in the rain

by judyannhale



Category: Dead To Me (TV)
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Jen has good music taste, Rain, and musical taste, ik it's LA but it can rain like once a year right, literally just fluff, romantic af judy, theater kid jen, them being adorable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:08:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25252891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/judyannhale/pseuds/judyannhale
Summary: “We might not get another chance for like, a year,” Judy protested gently. “Come on, it'll be fun.”“It'll be wet,” Jen pointed out.“Please.” Judy’s sweet expression did the trick.
Relationships: Judy Hale/Jen Harding
Comments: 11
Kudos: 110





	Like walking in the rain

**Author's Note:**

> Literally just fluff I hope y'all enjoy :)  
> (yes I used a mann/weil title for a fic about carole king music... beautiful has me like that okay)

Jen felt her eyes glazing over as she stared out the window. She was leaned over the counter, obligatory glass of wine in hand, deeply focused on the constant patter of rain on the glass. She took it in, every drop landing in front of her, and let all her other thoughts go quiet. This was why she loved rain - that odd comfort that came drowning everything else out.

"You okay?"

"What?" She snapped out of it and turned around to find a concerned Judy staring at her. "Yeah. I'm fine."

"You've been there for a while," she said with a furrow in her brow.

Jen raised her eyebrows. "Spying on me?"

"No," Judy said softly, reaching out for her arm. "Just checking."

Jen stopped herself from rolling her eyes.

"I fucking love the rain," she offered as some kind of explanation. 

"Really?" Judy looked confused.  "You live in California."

Jen let out a sigh. "Not on purpose."

"Oh, right." She remembered they were in Ted’s hometown. "Bet it rains more in Brooklyn."

“No, it’s actually really sunny all the time,” Jen said sarcastically.

“Really?” Judy played along.

“Oh yeah,” Jen nodded with a grave expression. “Huge problem with droughts."

“I can imagine." She mirrored her put-on concern.

They looked at each other for a moment before Jen’s face broke into a small smile. She sighed, taking another sip of her wine.

“We used to get proper thunderstorms every now and then, when the rain’s really pounding on your window all night,” she said, shifting her focus back to the weak smattering of droplets on glass. “I always loved them.”

Judy shifted so she was leaning on the counter right beside her, gazing out at the same shower. 

“Yeah, I get that,” she said with a smile, letting herself be mesmerized by the drops tapping on the glass. “It’s kind of magical.”

Jen wanted to roll her eyes at that, but something stopped her. There was something special about that moment - something like the feeling of a thunderstorm - and she’d be lying if she said it was completely un-magical.

“Whenever we got a storm I'd put on my mom's old music really loud and just watch it through the window.” Part of her wished she was still back there - where her problems were small and contained enough to be drowned out by a bit of thunder.

“Sounds artsy.” Judy was a little impressed - she hadn’t realized Jen could be so sentimental, especially about something as simple as the weather.

“I was a teenager,” Jen brushed off. She remembered it so clearly - that age when you think all your feelings are particularly deep and important. The idea of being ‘artsy’ made her skin crawl, but her emotional teenage self probably deserved it.

“No, I think it’s worthy of art.” Judy laughed at her reaction. “When we were in the car there was one night it rained and it was so loud on the inside you could  _ feel _ it - it's like getting high off nature.”

“Yeah,” Jen smiled, surprised by how accurate her description was. As if on cue, another memory appeared in her mind. “There was this one time I was 16 and I was going into the city to see a show-”

“What show?” Judy interjected.

"Chorus line." Jen made a face as if it should be obvious (which it should have been).

Judy grinned. “Oh yeah, was that the 547th time?”

Jen leaned over to give her a playful slap. “No,” she said indignantly. “Probably around 30, but it's hard to remember.”

“Yeah, I get that too,” Judy said, feigning a worried expression.

Jen gave a huffy little sigh. “Anyway, I got off the subway at Times Square and it was the  _ most _ torrential rain I've ever seen in my life.” She paused for effect, knowing there was nothing she could say that would do justice to that storm. “I had no idea it could even rain that hard. And I was there with this crappy fold up umbrella, and I ended up just hiding in this hotel lobby for an hour, and my shoes wouldn't dry so I had to go to the show in flip flops.”

“Wow,” Judy replied, laughing at the image of Jen in a fancy theater dressed like that.

“I know, it was weird,” she continued. “But it felt kind of cool, and that ended up being a really good show.” 

“What? Different from the other 500?” Judy asked with a grin.

This time she got a shove in return. “Yeah it was.” Jen couldn’t help smiling at the memory. “There was this understudy on for Diana and she was incredible. It was like watching it for the first time again.”

“Sounds cool,” Judy admitted with a genuine smile. As much as she liked poking fun at Jen, she loved seeing how her face lit up whenever she talked about dancing or theater. It was obvious how much she loved it, even if she swore it was just a ‘used to’. They stayed there in silence for a moment before Judy had an idea.

“Come on,” she said, grabbing Jen’s hand.

“What?” Jen didn’t move.

“Come on,” Judy repeated, pulling her towards the door.

Jen scoffed, pulling her hand out of her grip. “No way.”

“We might not get another chance for like, a year,” Judy protested gently. “Come on, it'll be fun.”

“It'll be wet,” Jen pointed out.

“Please.” Judy’s sweet expression did the trick. Jen groaned as she begrudgingly allowed herself to be dragged outside. The rain, while not exactly heavy, was putting up a damn good fight for Southern California.

Judy squealed as soon as she got wet - of course she did - but she also came alive. Jen tried to stay annoyed, but it was impossible as she watched Judy laughing and twirling around with her bangs sticking to her face.

“Careful, you're gonna have too much fun,” Judy laughed as she caught sight of her standing there rigidly as the rain soaked through her blazer. Jen raised her eyebrows.

“Come on,” Judy softened, standing close to her. “How d'you feel?”

“Wet,” Jen answered.

Judy gasped, feigning embarrassment. “Jen! So forward!”

Jen snorted and gave her another shove. Judy grabbed onto her arm in an effort to save herself from slipping in the mud as they both laughed.

“Come here, have some of my wet,” Judy said as she grabbed her into a hug. 

“Gross." Jen tensed up for a second with her clothes sticking to her awkwardly, but she leaned into it once Judy’s arms were wrapped around her.

“You high off nature yet?” she asked.

Jen smirked. “Nearly.”

Their hug relaxed gently so they ended up standing holding each other’s arms, raindrops still spotting their faces.

“So,” Judy started, remembering what Jen had told her earlier. “What old music would you listen to?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Jen deflected.

“What?” Judy asked, her curiosity sparked.

“That was a long time ago,” she said.

“Come on, it can't be worse than 'die we're all gonna die we're all gonna die'.” Judy put on a deep, angry voice, trying to imitate the limited repertoire of death metal Jen had shared with her. Jen burst out laughing. 

“That's adorable,” she said with just a hint of condescension in her voice as she reached out to brush a stray wet hair from Judy’s face.

“Thank you,” she replied with a cute little smile. “So what was it?”

Jen sighed. She couldn’t not give into the wide brown eyes in front of her. “In thunderstorms? Carole King. Always.”

Judy laughed. She couldn’t imagine much that was less Jen-like than her 70s hippie style. “Wait seriously?”

“Yeah,” she answered defensively. “What?”

“Nothing," Judy reassured her. "That's just... not what I expected.”

“Yeah, well, my mom had her old records,” Jen explained. “Like I said, it was a long time ago.”

“No, I love her,” Judy said softly, making sure Jen knew she wasn’t being judged.

“She’s good,” Jen agreed. She couldn’t help a little smile, pleased to see her taste being appreciated.

Judy had another idea. She paused for a moment, wiped a drop of rain from her eyelash, and thought  _ fuck it _ .

“ _ All you have to do is touch my hand _ ,” she started to sing softly.

Jen laughed. She didn’t know what else to do. “Oh god, we’re singing now?”

“Yeah we are,” Judy said earnestly with the hint of a blush behind her smile.

“ _ To show me you understand _ ,” she continued, taking Jen’s hand and lacing their fingers together.

“ _ And something happens to me that’s some kind of wonderful. _ ” 

Judy’s sweet little voice won her over. It always did. Jen pulled her closer, wrapping her arms tightly around her, as she kept singing. She rested her head on Judy’s shoulder, burying her nose into her dark, wet hair. They stayed there, holding each other as close together as possible, swaying more than dancing really. Jen had to hunch over a little - her heels paired with Judy's bare feet only increased their height difference - but she didn't mind.

She didn't even mind the rain. It was coming down harder now, soaking through their clothes and spattering against their heads. There was something about being out here that was so comforting to Jen. They had to be a little insane to still be outdoors getting soaked, she thought, and if it was okay to be insane here, maybe she could be okay with some of the thoughts racing through her head too.

As she reached the end of the song, Judy gave her a squeeze before pulling away. Her hands found their way back to Jen’s and her eyes were beautiful and deep and overwhelming.

Jen looked away first. 

“Can we get dry now?” she asked, suddenly far too aware of the different feelings piling up inside of her.

Judy paused. “One more thing." 

She reached up to delicately brush a wet hair from Jen’s face. 

Jen looked back up at her. “What?” she asked softly.

Judy studied her eyes for a second. Jen’s face was open and smiling and  _ beautiful _ . She took a deep breath, leaned up a little onto her tiptoes and planted the smallest, sweetest kiss on Jen’s lips.

Jen must have been high off nature enough by then, because any anxiety or reason inside her fell away. She leaned back in to kiss Judy again, and it felt like the most natural thing in the world.


End file.
